Friday, February 28, 2014

Crime and Punishment for Stealing Plastic

While much of the public perceives plastic as merely junk, criminal activity suggests otherwise. The fact that people are getting caught and sent to jail or fined for stealing plastics strongly suggests that there is something of real value here. I've written before of thieves stealing plastics in Los Angeles and Mexico, but now this thievery has jumped the ocean and landed in the UK. Two employees of the bread baker Warburtons are on trial:

"A criminal conspiracy operated by Warburtons employees made money from recycling half a MILLION pounds worth of stolen bread baskets – a court has heard. Warburtons delivery driver Paul Rogers and his bakery boss Robert Cooper are accused of stealing at least 60 lorry loads of plastic bread trays and selling them to a recycling plant, owned by Paul Matthews. Preston Crown Court heard the two men hatched the plan along with PM Plastics boss Matthews after the well-known bread-making company started recycling its own baskets at the Darwen, Lancashire, plant in November 2010."

Note that in this case (as well as the previously noted case in LA), the plastics stolen were being chipped and ground into recycled plastic, proving that there is quite a demand and even more money to be made in recycling plastics.

The article doesn't state exactly what the penalty could be, but I'm sure that the court will make sure that it delivers a good wallop to the breadbasket. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)